Just because it’s not the new model doesn’t mean it’s not worth using. But how far back does your regular gadget usage stretch?
Product refreshes are a part of any gadget fan’s life; this week’s refresh of Apple’s iPod lines is proof enough of that. But while new features may entice, the existence of a new model doesn’t make the old unit suddenly stop working. I’ve got a first and second generation iPod Touch in my office, both of which work just fine. I’ll happily take a look at the fourth generation Touch, but on paper, there’s not enough there to convince me to buy because the old stuff is still humming along nicely.
This got me thinking about how old some of the tech I use on a regular basis actually is. I recently had a semi-successful tilt at the world Atari 2600 Ms Pac-Man record on a machine that’s nearly thirty years old, but that doesn’t really count in terms of modern equipment, because it works with itself and its own cartridges, and not much else. There’s a few program CDs sitting in a binder in my office that are more than a decade old and might run under Windows 7, but I haven’t haven’t actually tested that theory out.
Probably the oldest bit of tech I’ve got that still gets a regular workout is a four port USB 1 dock that I’ve had since from the very earliest days of USB. Sure, it’s not high speed in any particular way, but it serves nicely to run keyboards and mice connected up to my work machine, while a separate (and much newer) powered USB 2.0 hub does the heavy lifting.
So what’s the oldest still-in-use bit of tech you’ve got?